Emergency Department

What is the Emergency Department?

Emergency Departments provide 24/7 service to people who require
urgent to emergency care for a wide range of health care needs.
This service is also extended to people requiring less urgent
health care, although in most communities, there are alternative
health care options for non urgent patient care.

What I need to know:
We promote an environment where caring, integrity, excellence,
respect and responsibility are valued.

Because it is sometimes difficult to know the seriousness of an
illness, a triage nurse will see you shortly after you arrive at
the Emergency Department.

Triage means "to sort". It is the way we decide which
patients must be treated first. A national triage scale with
5 levels (ranging from non-urgent to resuscitation) is used to rate
patients' symptoms.

Triage nursing staff receive specialized education in order to
assess patients correctly and patients charts are reviewed on a
regular basis to ensure correct triage levels are being
assigned.

If your condition gets worse or better during your wait, please
let us know at once.

Worst Comes First

Emergency is not a first-come, first-serve service. People may
arrive after you, but be seen first because their health is at
greater risk.

The triage system allows us to treat all patients in a safe time
frame for their conditions.

At an Emergency Department, we cannot predict how long you will
wait. We never know when there may be an emergency, such as
an accident or life-threatening illness. Unfortunately, that may
mean a longer wait for our non-urgent patients.

Options for non-urgent care

If you need to see a doctor and it's not an emergency, please
consider the following options:

Telecare 811

This service is available 7-days-a-week, 24-hours-a-day. A
registered nurse will assess your condition and give you
advice.

After-hours Clinics
Several After-hours Clinics are available within Horizon Health
Network and Vitalité Health Network with private clinics also
available in some areas to serve you.